This is a study on the electronic reference work of some Swedish university and university college libraries. The purpose of the study has been to find out how the service works at the different libraries, to study the electronic reference interview and to find what is important when you start a new electronic reference service in the light of Brenda Dervin's sense-making theory study. Furthermore, we examine the aims of the electronic services offered and the differences between electronic and traditional reference interviews. In the background to the study we place electronic reference services in a context by describing the role of information technology and electronic mail in the libraries. The electronic reference interview is studied with the help of literature on the traditional reference interview. The study is built on qualitative interviews with librarians who work with electronic reference service. The libraries receive between 200 questions a month and 40 questions in eighteen months. The results of the report indicate that electronic reference service is not greatly used at most libraries. This might be the reason for the lack of detailed written guidelines for the service. The interviewed librarians are uncertain about the goals of the service but some suppose it is to do with the fact that their library has a national responsibility for a certain subject or they mention a wish to provide better service to their users. The attitude to advertising is mixed. Some imply that they do not have the means to extend the service. The librarians find the lack of a reference interview difficult and most of them see problems communicating via e-mail only. Electronic reference service is seen as an extension of the normal reference service, no special thought has been given to the consequences of the fact that the service is given through a new medium. The interviewees are of the opinion that the questionnaire should be as simple as possible. The possibilities of a more advanced questionnaire to compensate for the missing reference interview are discussed in the light of Dervin's sense-making theory. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to study an electronic reference service from a user perspective. By qualitative interviews with eight students the thesis examines their information behaviour, why and when they use the service, the user’s experiences of the service and the communication with the librarian. The users have all used the Swedish electronic reference service Fråga biblioteket – Forskningsbibliotek. We analyse the material by extracting conceptions of literature and earlier research concerning the questions our study is based on. Our theoretical framework is based on Brenda Dervin’s theory on sense-making and Carol Kuhlthau’s model of the information seeking process. The results of the interviews show that students want quick answers and a service that is convenient and easy to use, which they consider this service to be. They also want useful information but that does not mean that they actually use the information they receive, sometimes they change it to suit their situation.Despite being experienced users of the library, this new service can generate feelings of uncertainty but information on how to use the service and the reception by the librarian can alter this. Questions students have do not cause any thoughts on issues of integrity or anonymity and they seem to have a solid trust in libraries and librarians in general. The conclusion of this study is that users do not really know what demands they can have on the service, but that can change by clearer information about the service and by user education. / Uppsatsnivå: D